Posted by ekulka on 12/17/2012 5:53:00 AM (view original):There's rumblings that Sammy Sosa and, roger Clemens and Mark McGuire are the physical trainers at John Carroll. Any truth to the rumors Whit6r?

Breaking news on Sportscenter: head coach at HS caught on video telling team in locker room before JW game, "whatever you do, don't get blown out". Vegas closes all bets on this game. NCAA investigating possible point shaving scandal, if one can't count crossing fingers and not hoping for a 30 point loss cheating.

My apologies for being vacant from the thread...I'm in the midst of coaching right now (not hoops) and this season has been far more time-intensive than previous ones. I don't think the delay in any way impacted the teams I chose.

The "Few Days Late, But Still Way-Too-Early Final Four

—Johnson and Wales
Once again, spasticity has assembled a team that I’d be giving respect to if they showed up on my D2 schedule. Ath and Def in the mid-60s at the time of this writing and a speed that slacks off to 53. Allen Woods is just scary good and hopefully has no more Per growth remaining or he could border on the unreal.

—Texas Lutheran
Another roster that’s loaded, although the mid-40s defense might be a ***** in the armor. Blapo21 will compensate for that with a team that’s currently 52-56 on the Ath-Spd meter and high 40s in the LP-Per pairing with a 47 BH. If balanced values count more than extremes in Ath and Def, the Texas Lutheran is your pick this season.

-- UMass, Dartmouth
Once you yank out the walk-on that’s holding down team values, docwooden’s roster can easilly be described as a Johnson and Wales clone with more upperclass leadership on the roster. How deep is UMD? As I write this, the No. 9 man on the roster has a rating of 589.

-- US Merchant Marines
Defeated not one, but two DI programs in the preseason, then was unceremoniously dumped by 26 points by Texas Lutheran, above. Subsequent wins over Millsaps and Rivier — the latter by 27 points — show this team is legit though. The lack of top-end speed might hinder the squad, but I can’t recall the last time I saw a team with values like this that was also sporting a Per of 50. Lynchmob will have some fun this season.

I won't comment on your final four projections, rednu, but it is a bit jarring to see how many regular names are missing from today's top 25: Millsaps, Ursinis, Rivier, Connecticut, Hardin-Simmons, Wentworth Tech, and my Vassar squad are all currently unranked. I know it is early and things will change (the rankings do seem particularly volatile this year), but it does seem to be an unusual season in Rupp so far--notwithstanding the usual strength and dominance of the Evil Empire, that is.

Posted by rednu on 12/18/2012 1:36:00 PM (view original):My apologies for being vacant from the thread...I'm in the midst of coaching right now (not hoops) and this season has been far more time-intensive than previous ones. I don't think the delay in any way impacted the teams I chose.

The "Few Days Late, But Still Way-Too-Early Final Four

—Johnson and Wales
Once again, spasticity has assembled a team that I’d be giving respect to if they showed up on my D2 schedule. Ath and Def in the mid-60s at the time of this writing and a speed that slacks off to 53. Allen Woods is just scary good and hopefully has no more Per growth remaining or he could border on the unreal.

—Texas Lutheran
Another roster that’s loaded, although the mid-40s defense might be a ***** in the armor. Blapo21 will compensate for that with a team that’s currently 52-56 on the Ath-Spd meter and high 40s in the LP-Per pairing with a 47 BH. If balanced values count more than extremes in Ath and Def, the Texas Lutheran is your pick this season.

-- UMass, Dartmouth
Once you yank out the walk-on that’s holding down team values, docwooden’s roster can easilly be described as a Johnson and Wales clone with more upperclass leadership on the roster. How deep is UMD? As I write this, the No. 9 man on the roster has a rating of 589.

-- US Merchant Marines
Defeated not one, but two DI programs in the preseason, then was unceremoniously dumped by 26 points by Texas Lutheran, above. Subsequent wins over Millsaps and Rivier — the latter by 27 points — show this team is legit though. The lack of top-end speed might hinder the squad, but I can’t recall the last time I saw a team with values like this that was also sporting a Per of 50. Lynchmob will have some fun this season.

For the record, the word that's starred out under Texas Lutheran is not a word I ever would have thought would be blacklisted automatically.

I think it's sad that the word gets censored. I don't think of that phrase as racial at all personally, but I do remember some journalist getting in trouble for using it in a headline about Jeremy Lin. We're too sensitive about stuff like that imo.